Underwater Cities

Pavlopetri, Greece

Nobody knows which community built this city, as it has been sank into the waters of southern tip of Greece’s Peloponnese peninsula over 5000 years ago. This underwater beauty has old and ruined stones which are attracting all the visitors from all around the world. The ruins were discovered in 1967 and the amazing fact about it is the streets and even tombs are still remains almost undamaged. The city was originally the part of the Mycenaean civilization, although some archeologists assumes that it’s possibly Minoan in origin. Historians think Pavlopetri might have been destroyed by an earthquake in 1000 BCE.

Port Royal, Jamaica

Port Royal is situated at the edge of Kingston Harbor used ti be well known base for pirates and privateers. The Port was used as a base for treasure hunting and raiding ships. In the late 17th Century pirates gathered around at the port, which contained four forts and over 2000 buildings. As well as notorious pirates like Calico Jack, Charles Vane, and Blackbeard used to visit the port very often. Port Royal sank beneath the Caribbean in an earthquake in 1692. Modern archeologists have discovered pirates’ taverns, ships and docks around the port.

Dwarka, India

For over years this ancient city was considered a myth until divers discovered its ruins in 2000. This spectacular underwater city is located in Indian state of Gujarat. Most of the the Hindus believe that the city was built by Lord Krishna, which used to have over 70,000 palaces. But researchers still considers the city being built by ancient Indian and Arabian communities. It is also considered as one of the oldest ruins in the whole world. These ruins are submerged in the Arabian Sea, which was built around 9000 years ago (7400 BCE). It still remains unknown how or why the city sank, but some scientists believe the Arabian Sea used to be 100 meters lower than its current level 2000 years ago.

The Pyramid of Yonaguni (Yonaguni Monument), Japan

The submerged pyramid of the Japanese Island of Yonaguni was discovered by divers in 1986. This place contains staircase-like terraces, which gives it an amazing look from the surface of the water. Seismology professor Masaaki Kimura assumes that the “pyramid” was built in around 2000 and 3000 years ago, which leads us to believe that it wasn’t built by any known Japanese civilization if it really is manmade. Peculiar design of the pyramid has a similar look to those found in Mexico and Central America. The pyramid is very mysterious because there are no other underwater structures in the area.

Lion City, China

Lion City has over 1400 years of age, although it has only been submerged for under 60 years. This exact city was flooded in 1959 when the Chinese government built a hydroelectric dam on the Xin’an River and created Qiandao Lake. The city is also known as Shi Cheng, which is left to us from 621 AD. Lion City is very popular diving spot nowadays, because it has been shown to be widely intact. Shi Cheng is a fairly large city itself with over 265 arches and five towers on the walls around the city. There is even older city under Qiandao Lake, which might date back the Dong Han Dynasty, that ruled from 25 to 200 AD.

Heracleion/Thonis

Heracleion/Thonis is a submerged underwater city which is known for being one of the oldest underwater cities that has ever been existed. It might date as far back as 1200 BC. Heracleion used to be Ancient Egypt’s main port, while nowadays it is submerged in the harbor of modern day Alexandria. The city includes many legends such as, Hercules used to visit the city and he gave its Greek name to the city and also Helen of Troy may have visited the city for traveling purposes. Heracleion was built on islands in the Nile Delta. It is considered to be sank in between third and fourth century BC and a river washed away the silt it was built upon. Although scientists believes that Heracleion and Thonis used to be separate cities, but historians lately discovered that they were the same place when divers located the city in 2000.

The Temple Under Lake Titicaca, Peru

The world’s highest submerged city might lay beneath the waters of Lake Titicaca on the Peruvian-Bolivian border, the world’s highest lake in elevation. Lake Titicaca is over 8300 meters in elevation, and it is the largest lake in South America. Archeologists discovered the temple in 2000, after divers found the way leading the underwater city. There’s also a temple which is 200 meters tall, which is thought to be 1000-1500 years old. It is believed that the Inca Civilization built the city and may have been community called the Tiahuanacos, although it still remains unknown. This discovery also confirms Inca legends that their civilization began on the lake. It is also not known why the temple sank under water, nor if there are any other submerged buildings around the area.

Villa Epecuen, Argentina

This underwater Argentinian town is the latest submerged city in the world. In 1970s, the town used to be a thriving community with over 5000 residents and 300 business locals. Villa Epecuen sank beneath the waters of a lake called Lago Epecuen in the late 1980s and early 1990s. After the waters has been receded, the town revealed a spooky landscape with playgrounds, undamaged trees, utility poles, and a lot of remaining house ruins. Today there’s only one resident named Pablo Novak, a former resident who moved back after the water started to recede in 2009.

Ontario’s Lost Villages

These sunk and lost villages are situated in between Ontario and New York border. There are literally ten small Canadian villages, which disappeared beneath the water when the Saint Lawrence Seaway was built in the late 1950s. Astońishing part about it is some of the structures from the towns were moved to Ault Park and Upper Canada Village to serve as monuments for tourists. If you don’t want to get your clothes wet, you can encounter sidewalks and building foundations just from the shore. This flooded area also includes Crysler’s Farm, where a major battle between American and British-Canadian forces was fought during the War of 1812.